Technology

[Via Satellite 04-09-2014] Advantech Wireless released a new multicarrier broadcast modulator: MSBM-500. From one 500 Mhz carrier, the modulator is capable of generating up to 16 independent 30 Msymbols/s carriers in the 950 Mhz to 2150 Mhz band. The MSBM-500 also supports Digital Video Broadcasting — Satellite (DVB-S) and Digital Video Broadcasting Second Generation (DVB-S2)...

[Via Satellite 04-09-2014] PSSI Global Services has hired Rick Ball to assist with operational support and contribute to the company’s growth. Ball has more than 25 years of experience in the satellite industry and is a founding partner of a satellite uplink firm. Ball has performed as EIC for several major national networks and has...

[Via Satellite 04-08-2014] UrtheCast released its first images of Earth captured by the company’s medium-resolution camera (MRC) on the International Space Station (ISS). The image features the city of Moneague, Jamaica and has about a 20-foot Ground Distance Sampling (GSD), covering an area of more than 180 square miles. The images will be constantly streamed...

[Via Satellite 04-08-2014] GT-SAT deployed MaxLinear’s Full-Spectrum Capture (FSC) MxL862 in a new Digital Low-Noise Block (DLNB), which will assist European and Latin American satellite operators to make the move to digital channel stacking. GT-SAT cited lower power draw and the MxL862’s level of integration as major reasons for its selection. Operators in Europe and...

[Via Satellite 04-07-2014] NASA has granted Orbital Sciences a contract to launch the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) multi-satellite mission on board the Pegasus XL rocket. Orbital’s Stargazer L 1011 aircraft will carry the CYGNSS payload. The mission is planned for October 2016 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida. The CYGNSS...

[Via Satellite 04-07-2014] European Space Imaging (EUSI) has partnered with Skybox Imaging to support their High-Res Challenge, now called the “European Space Imaging and Skybox High-Res Challenge.” Skybox is launching a constellation of more than 20 high-resolution satellites, which once complete will be able to visit the same location multiple times a day. The challenge...

[Via Satellite 04-03-2014] Tempus Global Data has opened operations in Utah in order to deliver next generation weather data to commercial and government customers. The company will provide weather data through the use of the Utah State University-built Sounding and Tracking Observatory for Regional Meteorology (STORM) instrument, designed as hosted payloads for satellites in geostationary...

[Via Satellite 04-03-2014] Tata Elxsi has announced the successful interoperability of its high efficiency video coding (HEVC) decoder with streams encoded using Harmonic encoding technology. These Ultra-HD HEVC decoders are available on multiple platforms, including Intel x86 processors and multicore ARM platforms as well as semiconductor IPs. This pre-confirmed operability helps decrease the time for...

[Via Satellite 04-02-2014] M/A-COM Technology Solutions has announced an IP licensing program for Gallium Nitride (GaN) on Silicon technology. MACOM detailed progress in two areas critical to its vision of enabling the mainstream adoption of GaN as a large-scale RF semiconductor technology across the industry. The company has announced a license and epitaxial (epi) wafer...

[Via Satellite 04-01-2014] Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation and Aerojet Rocketdyne have exceeded the technical range objective for the main thruster that will fly aboard the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM). The mission will demonstrate the use of green propellant AF M315E in a space environment. This propellant is intended to replace the toxic hydrazine...